Bonding systems, such as those used in automatic wiring machines, often produce poor connections due to oxide coatings and insufficient thermal contact. In addition, the connection quality is often inconsistent from board to board and even from point to point on a single board. An attempt to solve some of the problems by increasing the tip to contact pressure is not wholly adequate because the solder is squashed out of the connection, and the wire, contact, or other members to be soldered may become deformed. Poor connections also result from contaminated solder tips. Typically the tips become clogged with solder deposits and impurities and must be periodically cleaned. Since the tips are used on heads in groups of typically six or more operated together, any interruption for cleaning of one tip stops production on all of the associated heads. The wire must be removed from the tip and the tip cleaned out; often the contamination is such that the tip has to be removed from the head and chemically and mechanically cleaned with tools and solvents.